Debate Continues Eight Years After Motorcycle Helmet Law Repealed

Tuesday

Motorcyclists in Polk County have widely divergent opinions about the need to wear head protection.

When Rob Cornelius started riding motorcycles at age 16, Florida law didn't allow him - or any other biker - to rev the throttle without a helmet on his head.

That changed on July 1, 2000, when Florida repealed a 33-year-old law and exempted anyone 21 or older with $10,000 in personal injury insurance from wearing a helmet. At that point, Cornelius, a Lakeland resident, was free to ride without headgear.

He tried it a few times on short treks around town, but he just didn't feel secure. And so Cornelius, who rides nearly every day, quickly reverted to automatic helmet use.

On the eighth anniversary of the change in Florida's helmet law, motorcyclists in Polk County have widely divergent opinions about the need to wear head protection.

Some, noting that even the most careful rider is vulnerable to the errors of drivers, say it's foolish to ride without a helmet. Others, emphasizing the connection between motorcycles and freedom, adamantly refuse to wear helmets.

Motorcycle helmet laws vary widely across the United States. Twenty states require all bikers to wear helmets. The other 30 offer exemptions based on age, insurance coverage or, as in Florida, a combination of the two.

Florida's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reports 521 Florida motorcyclists died in 2006, 21 of them in Polk County. Of the statewide fatalities, the agency said 39 percent were not wearing helmets. Motorcyclists in Florida accounted for 8 percent of registered vehicles in 2006 and 17 percent of traffic fatalities, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Two weeks ago, an accident in Lakeland killed a motorcyclist and critically injured his passenger. The Sheriff's Office said neither was wearing a helmet. It was at least the third motorcycle fatality in Polk County since February involving a rider not wearing a helmet.

Numerous studies have documented increases in motorcyclists' deaths following the repeal of universal helmet laws in Florida and other states. Helmet use here dropped from more than 90 percent before 2000 to 53 percent by 2002, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and motorcyclist fatalities increased 49 percent.

Figures from the Florida Department of Transportation show motorcyclists made up 5.34 percent of highway fatalities in 1999 and steadily increased to 15.48 percent in 2006.

Such statistics don't sway Chris Brandfass Jr. of Lakeland. Brandfass, 44, has been riding motorcycles since his early youth and now owns a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy. Brandfass steadfastly opposes mandatory helmet laws, and he belongs to the Polk County chapter of ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Towards Education), a group that lobbied for the repeal of Florida's law.

When Brandfass rides his Harley, he goes helmet-free unless it's raining. He cites many reasons for eschewing the headgear: It's heavy and hot and impairs vision and hearing. It isn't guaranteed to save you in a serious accident. The added weight on a rider's head can cause neck injuries.

As a Floridian, Cornelius sympathizes with the heat complaint, though he said helmets have become lighter and better ventilated in recent years. Cornelius said a moistened bandana worn under the helmet will keep a rider's head cool.

"That's what a lot of people complain about - 'It's so hot; it makes my head sweat,'" Cornelius said. "I say, 'Well, at least I have a head to sweat.' You could be laid out six feet under because you didn't want your head to sweat."

Proponents of helmet-free riding point out that Department of Transportation-approved helmets are only rated to withstand impacts of up to 35 mph. As Brandfass notes, more than half of motorcycle fatalities involve people wearing helmets.

"A helmet does not keep people alive," Brandfass said. "When you run into the side of my motorcycle and cut my leg off at the knee, I'm going to bleed to death whether I have a helmet on or not. Most of us who don't wear a helmet, our opinion is (that) the (only) difference between wearing a helmet and not wearing a helmet is the difference between an open casket and a closed casket."

Cornelius, 39, offers himself as a counter argument to such fatalism. In 1993, he had a head-on collision with a car whose driver was trying to pass a tractor-trailer on S.R. 33, and he said the combined impact speed was about 130 mph. He said an emergency medical crew resuscitated him.

"The reason why my system shut down was my head swelled, but if I wouldn't have been wearing a helmet we wouldn't be talking today - period," he said. "That's the only thing that saved my life."

Cornelius also says many motorcycle accidents happen at low speeds, including cases of newer riders tumbling sideways at stops. He said what might be a minor incident for a helmeted rider can become a cause of major brain trauma for one without a helmet.

NHTSA estimates helmets prevented the deaths of 1,658 bikers nationwide in 2006 and suggests another 752 could have been saved if all motorcyclists wore helmets. If all bikers wore headgear, the agency says, 37 of every 100 unhelmeted riders killed in accidents would survive.

As for claims that the added weight of helmets causes injuries, "That is baseless and ridiculous," said Dan Derringer, road captain of Lakeland-based Motorcycle Riders Association, a company that offers rider insurance and safety training.

Helmet opponents cite a study from the 1980s suggesting the extra weight leads to neck and spinal injuries. But Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, an alliance of safety groups and insurance companies, says more than a dozen subsequent, peer-reviewed studies have refuted the original findings.

Even if one acknowledges the protective effects of helmets, many bikers say it's not the government's role to force riders to wear them. They cling to the sense of freedom that draws so many people to get motorcycles in the first place.

Brandfass said drivers of cars often tell him he should have to wear a helmet because they are required by law to wear seat belts. He responds by saying drivers should lobby the Florida Legislature to overturn the seat-belt law, just as motorcyclists convinced legislators to repeal the helmet law.

Of course, many laws favor the public good over individual liberty, and helmet advocates point to the medical costs generated by motorcyclists who incur severe head injuries. NHTSA offers several studies comparing treatment costs for helmeted and unhelmeted riders involved in crashes, including a 1994 study suggesting the latter generate three times the hospitalization costs.

Treatment for severe head injuries can far exceed the $10,000 in insurance coverage that exempts bikers from wearing helmets, a provision that by most accounts is lightly enforced.

Derringer, who has ridden for 40 years, dons a complete protective wardrobe, including boots, gloves and long sleeves and pants. But he said the helmet is the most important element.

"To me, it's just a no-brainer," Derringer said. "I tell people if you care about your loved ones and you don't want to hurt them, you do whatever you can to minimize your risk."

Derringer said every rider he knows who survived a serious accident decided afterward to wear a helmet. Brandfass, though, said he knows bikers who continue to ride without helmets even after crashes.

The commitment to freedom runs deep among bikers. Even Cornelius, so adamant about the wisdom of wearing a helmet, doesn't argue for reinstatement of Florida's universal helmet requirement. On that count, he and Brandfass line up wheel to wheel.

"There's an old phrase, 'Let those who ride decide,'" Cornelius said. "All I can do is voice my opinion and (tell) what happened to me."

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at 863-802-7518. ]

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